Children's Books in a Montessori Classroom

From Montessori Album
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Maria Montessori took a view of children's literature that was was very different from most others' of her day and ours. She thought that it was best to avoid giving books to young children that had magic or other fantastical elements in the stories. She thought that children below a certain age would be confused about what things in the stories were real or not. She thought is was disrespectful to children to not provide them with an accurate portrayal of the world when they were still building there understanding of how the world worked.
Another useful criteria for selecting children's books comes from the 19th century British educator Charlotte Mason. She advised against books that used baby-talk, or dumbed-down stories, or that insulted the intelligence of the reader in any other ways. She referred to these books as "twaddle."
Please feel free to add books to the lists:

Circle-Time Read Aloud

These are well-written, well-illustrated books that are either realistic fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction or biographies.

Title Author Illustrator Word Count Topic
Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing Barrett, Judi Barrett, Ronald
Will I Have a Friend? Cohen, Miriam Hoban, Lillian 484 starting school
The Nutcracker Doll DePalma, Mary Newell DePalma, Mary Newell 473 being in a ballet
The Quilt Story Johnston, Tony dePaola, Tomie 567 a family heirloom quilt
Ox-Cart Man Hall, Donald Cooney, Barbara 654 frontier living
A House is a House for Me Hoberman, Mary Ann Fraser, Betty 732 homes
Just Say Boo! Hood, Susan Henry, Jed Halloween
How Big Were Dinosaurs? Judge, Lita Judge, Lita dinosaurs
The Colors of Us Katz, Karen Katz, Karen 423 different skin colors
The Snowy Day Keats, Ezra Jack Keats, Ezra Jack 316 playing in the snow
Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons Levine, Sara Spookytooth, T.S. vertebrates
Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story Peters, Lisa Westberg Stringer, Lauren evolution
I Love My Hair Tarpley, Natasha Anastasia Lewis, E.B. 469
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Viorst, Judith Cruz, Ray 741 a bad day
Susan B. Anthony Wallner, Alexandra Wallner, Alexandra 1,610 biography, women's rights
A Chair for My Mother Williams, Vera B. 1,068
The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps Winter, Jeanette Winter, Jeanette biography, chimpanzees


Chapter Books

These are longer well-written books that are either realistic fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction or biographies. They would need to be read over the course of several days.

Title Author Illustrator Word Count Topic
Linnea in Monet's Garden Bjork, Christina Anderson, Lena 5,871
A Little Princess Burnett, Frances Hodgson 66,181
Sarah, Plain and Tall MacLachlan, Patricia 8,377
Little House on the Prairie Wilder, Laura Ingalls 52,038